HUNTINGTON BEACH – John Briscoe already holds one public office but he wants another.

The Ocean View School District trustee announced last week that he will run for the Huntington Beach Union High School District school board and plans to serve in both districts simultaneously next year.

Briscoe, 55, has two years left in his first term with Ocean View.

An Orange County Department of Education attorney said Briscoe will have to choose between the two districts if he wins the high school board election.

Ocean View’s grade school students are slated to attend Huntington Beach Union’s schools, creating a conflict of interest because of a potential clash of loyalties for the trustees, said attorney Mark Bresee, citing a state attorney general’s opinion in 1996.

However, that opinion is not law and Briscoe could take the matter to court where there is a “very slim chance” that he would win, Bresee said.

“I still intend on running but I sure enjoy my position with Ocean View,” Briscoe said once he learned of the attorney general opinion Monday afternoon. “This is a whole new kettle of fish.”

Briscoe will be running against incumbents Michael Simons and Susan Henry for Huntington Beach Union’s two open seats. Newcomer Angelo Segalla, who is a math professor at Cal State Long Beach, will also be running.

If Briscoe wins the election and is forced to give up his spot with Ocean View, the elementary school board would accept applications to fill the remainder of Briscoe’s term, which ends in 2010. A new board member would be chosen within 60 days of Briscoe’s resignation.

Before 1996, there were at least three cases of trustees serving in two districts including former Huntington Beach Mayor Ralph Bauer, who was a trustee with the Ocean View and Huntington Beach Union High school districts from 1968 to 1976.

This is not the first time Briscoe has worked outside his own district.

Briscoe took out a PennySaver advertisement in July urging Fountain Valley residents to lobby their elementary school district trustees to display the national motto “In God We Trust” in their board room. Briscoe also unsuccessfully asked the Westminster School District trustees to consider displaying the same logo in their board room in March.

Briscoe has also met disapproval within his own district.

In March, the trustees formed a subcommittee to discuss taking legal action against Briscoe, and in May, he unsuccessfully tried to censure Board President Debbie Cotton.

Briscoe also appears regularly at the district offices to ask for school statistics and legal advice. Since December, the district has spent about $27,200 in legal fees to answer Briscoe’s questions and about $4,600 just for the month of April, officials said.

Also running for Huntington Beach school boards are:

Incumbents Debbie Cotton and Norm Westwell are running for Ocean View School District’s two open spots.

Newcomer Robert Schaaf will join incumbents Brian Rechsteiner and Catherine McGough on the ballot for Huntington Beach City School District’s two open seats.